Lofty ceilings

Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

The living room has a lofty 11.5-foot ceiling and a concrete floor scored in large rectangles. Fiberglass powder was added to concrete poured 2.5 inches thick. "The thicker-than-normal concrete helps minimize cracking," Don Dimster said. A leather sofa from Design Within Reach faces a pair of contemporary chairs and a George Nelson-like coffee table. A 9-foot-wide sliding door in white oak hangs from a ceiling track and can separate living room from bedroom, at right in the distance. "The large door can be moved with a single finger," he said. "There's no weight to speak of."

The living room has a lofty 11.5-foot ceiling and a concrete floor scored in large rectangles. Fiberglass powder was added to concrete poured 2.5 inches thick. "The thicker-than-normal concrete helps minimize cracking," Don Dimster said. A leather sofa from Design Within Reach faces a pair of contemporary chairs and a George Nelson-like coffee table. A 9-foot-wide sliding door in white oak hangs from a ceiling track and can separate living room from bedroom, at right in the distance. "The large door can be moved with a single finger," he said. "There's no weight to speak of." (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

The living room has a lofty 11.5-foot ceiling and a concrete floor scored in large rectangles. Fiberglass powder was added to concrete poured 2.5 inches thick. "The thicker-than-normal concrete helps minimize cracking," Don Dimster said. A leather sofa from Design Within Reach faces a pair of contemporary chairs and a George Nelson-like coffee table. A 9-foot-wide sliding door in white oak hangs from a ceiling track and can separate living room from bedroom, at right in the distance. "The large door can be moved with a single finger," he said. "There's no weight to speak of."